


Like the Break of a Dawning Sun

by salakavala



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: An undetermined post-canon setting on Earth, Crack, M/M, Questionable foreplay, Sibling Incest, Superhero Thor, Supervillain Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 05:40:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18276914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salakavala/pseuds/salakavala
Summary: Loki cooks up mischief, Thor attempts to put an end to it, and on and on goes the game.





	Like the Break of a Dawning Sun

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like my brain is a computer hard drive at the moment, going through dusty old files and just... spewing them out. Hence this silly little thing. I first got this idea seven years ago for my first fandom but never wrote it, and apparently old ideas surface from time to time, and, against all odds, get written.
> 
> The title comes from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF3mmqXjHLw) that was unfortunate enough to have a line that I thought fitting.

 

 

It didn't take all that long for Thor to arrive. It never did; the power that Stormbreaker granted him had Thor delivered at the scene almost before Loki could even get properly started. Well, no matter. Wrecking havoc had always been his speciality, with or without the hindrance that was his brother.

Still, Loki couldn't deny that the familiar flash of the Bifrost never failed to send a jolt of anticipation through his insides – for it meant that Thor had noticed him.

It meant that Thor was coming for him.

Loki had to give it to the so-called social media and trending hashtags that humans were so depended upon; he had made himself visible not ten minutes ago, and already the somewhat vexing but admittedly effective hashtags such as _#WakeUpAvengers_ , _#LokiAlert_ , and, a little surprisingly yet pleasantly so, _#MakeSpaceboyGreatAgain_ had spread far enough to reach even Thor. Or rather, reach one of his pathetic avenger friends, who then alerted Thor – for Loki knew for a fact that Thor was helpless with the modern (in Midgardian terms) technology.

The blinding pillar of light hit the ground in the centre of the town square, and when the light dissipated, Loki saw his brother standing in the scar left by the energy surge of the Bifrost. Thor was practically crackling with righteous fury, his crimson cape flowing with the wind behind him. His gaze wandered slowly over the square until it landed on Loki – or _Lokis_ , as Loki had, of course, created a few illusions to serve as a distraction.

This Loki had to admit: Thor had certainly learnt to make an entrance. As was only right; Loki would not accept an opponent with any less class.

The local Midgardians had gathered in packs at the edges of the town square, some of them running like headless chickens, but most of them lingering at the corners, trying to creep to Thor’s side of the square while still maintaining a good look on what was going on. Loki snorted; _Midgardians_. Always ready to endanger themselves for a moment of glory on their social media site for providing the best recording of anything from their dinner to an alien attack.

“Loki!” Thor bellowed, and strode towards the Lokis.

Loki’s lips tugged into a smirk without him quite meaning to. Anticipation exploded in his veins, made his blood sing. “Here to join the game, brother?”

Thor didn’t look at all amused. He stopped within several metres from the line of illusions, among which Loki himself also stood. His expression sang of storms and thunder. “Why, Loki?” he nearly hissed, a welcome alternative to his constant bellowing. “Why must you continue your villainous endeavours? Hasn’t this world endured enough in the past few years? Why pick the arms over and over again, knowing I’ll be there to stop you?” His face twisted in anguish. “Why break my hopes of your redemption time after time again?”

Loki offered a bitter smile, one that reflected on each of his illusions. He made one of them answer Thor. “Perhaps you ought to ask yourself then why you keep entertaining such foolish hopes after all this time. I do recall you saying that you are you, and I am me. Besides,” he continued before Thor could get a word in, “I also recall you saying that surrender is not in your nature. In this, perhaps, we are truly brothers, after all – for neither is it in mine.”

“Loki,” his brother growled. “What do you wish to gain of this? You know I and my fellow Avengers will put an end to your machinations.”

Loki laughed. “Oh, you are certainly welcome to try. Besides, I only see you – I’m afraid your pathetic lackeys won’t be here for a few more hours at least.”

That was the beauty of it: Midgardian means of transportation had their limits, and Thor was always so rash to find Loki that he never had the patience to wait until the rest of the Avengers were assembled to transport them all with Stormbreaker at once. Loki would have given a lot of those colourful little paper slips that Midgardians called money to see Stark’s and Roger’s frustrated faces when they were once again left behind. If he were quite honest, he mostly chose the locations for his little plots oceans away from New York just to annoy Stark.

Now Loki only needed to shake Thor off his back for enough time to find a quiet spot that let him concentrate enough to cast his new spell. He didn’t need much time – he only wanted to test how well the spell worked and how far away from himself he could still passably control it. Fortunately, he could easily win that time by giving Thor something else to play with.

“A questionable pleasure as chatting with you is, Thor, I’m afraid I have business elsewhere.” All of Loki’s illusions performed a little mocking bow – Thor was the King, now, after all – and then Loki turned and ran, sending each illusion in separate directions. Let Thor chase his tail for a while. Meanwhile Loki would –

“Unf!”

Something heavy collided with him, tackling him to the ground face-first with enough force to knock his breath out. He gasped, trying to get the air flow again, but Thor's bulk made the task far more difficult than it need be. For one terrifying moment his mind jumped back to New York all those years ago, when he had attempted to take over the Earth and that green beast had slammed him around, but Thor's hot breath at his ear pulled him back into the present.

“Resorting to the old tricks, brother? I'm afraid I've figured out your little tells.”

Loki tried to wiggle out from under Thor, or at least turn around to a more dignified position, but Thor's weight held his securely. He gritted his teeth. “I have no tells, you idiot, they are all reflections of _me_.”

Thor’s voice was unbearably smug to tolerate from such a close distance. “Is that so? And yet I spotted the real you without difficulty.”

“A stroke of luck,” Loki hissed.

“You keep telling yourself th-”

Loki blasted a telekinetic wave into his face. It threw Thor off him and into the ground. Good – let _him_ bite the dust for a change. Loki leapt on his feet and swiftly put some space between himself and Thor. He had to shake Thor off his tail, or he would never be able to test his spell. And yet, Thor's words nagged at him.

“Well then!” he snarled, “What tells, pray, did the Mighty Thor spot, if he has suddenly grown so sharp? Or are you perhaps trying to learn how to bluff?”

Thor rolled off the ground, spitting the dust from is mouth, and rose to his feet. He regarded Loki with grim triumph. “Oh, I'm sure you're burning to know. But do not think for one moment that I will reveal them to you, so that you would learn to hide them from me.”

Loki seethed at his tone. Oh, he had always been vulnerable to Thor's provocation, as Thor was to his, and he was well aware that he was falling for it once again. What he should do was distract Thor enough to leave the stage, but he couldn't do so without wiping off that infuriating smirk from his brother's face.

“If you are so bored of my _same old tricks,_ brother, allow me to show you what I've recently learnt.”

Let Thor think he had one over Loki. It would only be all the more satisfying to pull the rug from under his feet like that.

What he was about to do would take a significant amount of magical energy, and though he had planned to test his new spell in peace, perhaps it was just the thing he needed to properly distract Thor. Tells, he said? Well, let him try figuring out Loki's tells now!

He called for a dozen of his regular illusions, but among them, he created a physical double of himself. Until now he had never managed to make his illusions anything but a play of light and air, but a fortnight or so ago he had finally found the trick to make an illusion real – a physical copy of himself, a clone that followed his will. He had yet to test how many he could upkeep at once, and within what range, and he had planned to do that from a safe spot while causing some harmless mischief on the side. But what better place to test an invention than the very situation it was meant for? For if Loki found his control over multiple clones steady, he would be able to use them to mislead the Avengers while he focused on his real objectives.

“If my regular illusions no longer entertain you, let us up the game a little.” He summoned as much venom as he could into his smile. “I will leave these to keep you company for a time. Do tell me what you think, when we next meet.”

Thor snorted, eyeing the illusions with contempt. “More light tricks, brother? I already proved that they no longer fool me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Loki said sweetly, and, with a flick of his wrist, veiled himself from view. He wouldn't be able to upkeep his invisibility stable for long if he wanted to create more clones and test his control over them, but it would win him enough time to put sufficient space between himself and Thor.

“Loki!” Thor shouted, and made to grab where Loki had stood. Before he could take two steps, however, the clone Loki had created stepped forward to block his path. Thor tried to simply brush it away, thinking it just an illusion, but froze when his hand met a physical form. “Loki?”

The clone smiled and thrust a knife into Thor' side.

Loki laughed aloud at the shock in his brother's widening eyes. Oh yes, it was perfect! A dozen harmless illusions and one physical double with the ability to stab his back – _that_ should keep his brother on his toes for a bit. Let him figure out the tells now!

Loki brushed dust off his leathers and headed for the city hall standing at the edge of the square. The rooftop should be quiet enough and provide him a good view on the town. Thor's frustrated roar was the last thing he heard before slipping in through the glass doors of the building.

Cloaked in invisibility, it was easy to find his way to the rooftop unhindered. None of the humans running around knew to pay him any mind. The security guards seemed torn between heading outside to aid Thor and ushering the councilmen and -women into rooms they apparently considered safe. It was a pathetic sight, really. The fight wasn't a major one, and it wasn't even happening inside the building, and yet these people, who were charged with leading the others, dispersed like panicked rabbits. After living among Midgardians for a few years, Loki was ready to admit that many of them certainly demonstrated resilience and somewhat endearing defiance in the face of forces bigger than themselves, but it seemed that almost without exception those holding powerful positions mostly just cowered and let themselves be steered like cattle. How they had secured such positions for themselves was a mystery indeed. The result of the so-called democracy, most likely.

The rooftop, like Loki had suspected, was empty. It was flat, and from the edge of it Loki had a clear view on the town square and all the gathered people – and of Thor, of course. The police forces had arrived, but there wasn't much they could do aside trying – and failing – to usher the stubborn spectators away. Nearly half of the crowd seemed to have their little mobile phones out and recording. Loki smiled; from where he was standing, Thor looked like a cat, whose owner teased it with a little laser light while the real toy kept eluding it. Before the day was out, videos of Thor getting stabbed by Loki's clone would flood the Internet.

But there was daylight yet ahead, and amusing as toying with his brother was, Loki had an actual mission to accomplish. He stood near the edge of the roof, focusing stability into his feet to resist the wind tugging at his cape, and closed his eyes with a slow exhale. Now, he needed to direct his seidr down and onto the streets outside this square. He would try to create three clones first, and then see how far he could lead them before either his seidr wore too thin, or they were attacked by the police forces.

A deep breath, feeling the threads of seidr running through his body from his fingertips to the toes, focusing down…

“Loki!”

Loki jolted, very nearly falling off the edge of the roof. He quickly checked – his invisibility was still intact. He whirled around.

Thor stood in the middle of the roof. A quick glance down to the square showed that Thor had finally managed to destroy Loki's clone.

Loki gritted his teeth. Trust Thor to be the nuisance that he was. He hadn't yet located Loki, but he clearly knew Loki was on the roof; he was squinting and slowly dragging his gaze over the rooftop, as if it was only a matter of time that he would find Loki. And perhaps it was – Loki had already long suspected that the artificial eye that the stupid raccoon had given Thor somehow helped Thor notice the nigh indistinguishable rippling in the air where the spell worked – how else could he have followed Loki up here?

Rather than to suffer the indignity of being found out, Loki dropped the cloak himself. Down on the square the crowd hollered and pointed up, as if it was merely a number of street theatre they were watching.

“I see that eye of yours has been upgraded to detect my magic from a greater distance,” Loki said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Thor grinned at him. “Not at all. Simply a warrior's instinct.” His smirk widened. “That, or I simply know your desire for theatrics too well. It was either the roof or the balcony below.”

Loki bristled. “Smugness is most unbecoming on you, brother.”

“Says the one who wears it all the time.”

“Who wears it _well_.” Loki's eyes slipped to Thor's injured side; blood was seeping through the cut in his armour. “I wouldn't be quite as smug, besides, if it had been me who had been stabbed by a mere double, especially right after boasting that I saw through them.”

Thor winced. “A lucky strike.”

“Oh, of course, if it's _you--_ ”

“Enough of this nonsense, Loki.”

Thor's face tightened into the painfully familiar mask of resigned pain. “I won't even beg you to come with me any more.” He stepped towards Loki; instinctively Loki stepped back. It was a grating reaction, but try as he might, Loki couldn't resist it in the face of Thor's intensity.

“I only ask that you cease this villainy, brother. I wish no leash on you, no cell to confine you. I would have you free, but please – please do not seek to harm these people. Do not seek to harm this realm.”

Loki clicked his tongue. “Such devotion for a backwater little rock of a planet. It makes me wonder. Why is it that it is only now that you express such care for Midgard? What is it that has secured your interest in this place, when barely a decade ago you hardly even remembered that it existed?”

“Loki -”

“Na-uh,” Loki said, finding that he had no more space to retread with Thor's advancing. He rooted his boots in the concrete beneath his feet and summoned a malicious smile to his face, voice rising as he spoke. “Could it be that you only care so much because Asgard is gone now? Could it be that you simply have nowhere else upon which to bestow your devotion? Could it be –” The words tasted sweet on his tongue for the moment that he kept them there, delighting in Thor's stormy expression. “– that the Earth's mightiest defender only acts out of _boredom_?

“So how dare you admonish _me_ , when our source of motivation is exactly the same?”

Loki had raised his voice as he spoke – let the pathetic earthlings hear what truly drove their precious hero. It wouldn't be enough to take Thor down from his pedestal, of course, but perhaps it might at least plant a seed of doubt in some minds, if nothing else.

Thor's face darkened. “It is _not_ like that!”

Loki laughed aloud. “No? Who are you trying to fool here, _brother_?”

“Loki,” Thor growled, approaching him. “Enough.”

The sky was beginning to darken with clouds; Loki's skin tingled with the thunder in the air. His breath caught, and yet he pressed on with his taunts. “What's the matter, Thor? Is the oh-so-honourable defender of the truth _afraid_ of it?”

Thor lunged at him.

Loki was already standing on the edge of the roof – he hesitated a breath too long. For the second time in one day Thor's bulk hit him right in his middle. The impact sent them both toppling over the edge of the roof, and they crashed into the balcony right below. Once again air left Loki's lungs, but before he found his feet again, Thor grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up against the sturdy railing of the balcony.

Below them, the crowd went _“oooh!”_.

Loki instinctively grabbed at Thor's hand at his throat – for all the good it did him. He smiled in triumph. “Oh, isn’t this marvellous? And they call me the god of lies, while you are too much of a coward to admit truth even to yourself.”

“I ought to cut your serpent's tongue out,” Thor hissed at him, like a snake himself. He pushed his face into Loki's, the hand at Loki's collar sliding behind Loki's head to grab a fistful of hair. His eyes were nearly black.

Loki felt Thor's solid wall of a body vibrating against his own, felt the distant rumbling in the air. He licked his lips to wet them. “Oh, but wouldn't you rather miss my tongue?”

Thor growled, leaning closer. “Loki -”

He was cut off by the sound of a fast approaching jet, and they both whipped their heads towards it. Loki swore; he had sorely underestimated that stupid raccoon. Letting him work with the Avengers was proving to be dangerous. At this rate, Thor’s ridiculous little friends would get their hands on technology far more advanced than what was good for Loki. Alone, it would have taken them a few more hours at least to inconvenience Loki.

He would have to separate the raccoon from the Avengers somehow. Or better yet, recruit the raccoon for himself. There was a thought.

He looked back into Thor's dark eyes and grinned. “I'm afraid I'll take my leave now. Till we meet again, bother mine.”

He shifted into a raven and slipped from Thor's hold, flying off and veiling himself in invisibility. Thor's sweet roar of frustration followed him into the clouds.

***

By the time Thor finally got home, he was beyond exhausted and wished for nothing more but a hot meal and then, afterwards, bed. The debriefing with his Avenger friends had taken longer than usual, despite there being nothing new to bring to the table. Loki had made an appearance – he had been stopped – he had disappeared. It was exactly the same pattern as it had been on all the previous times, as well, so when even Fury had made an unofficial appearance and sent the conversation back into the same never-ending and never-changing circle, Thor had not been the only one to tear at his hair. As long as Loki evaded being captured, the Avengers wouldn't get far with his case. No one knew how to follow Loki to his hideout.

Except, perhaps, Rabbit. He had made an offhanded, cryptic allusion to a contraption he was working on, a device that could uncover Loki's permanent whereabouts. Fortunately only Thor, sitting next to him, had seemed to hear it. He would have to talk to Rabbit about it, sooner rather than later.

He kicked off his boots and headed straight for the bedroom. He was filthy with dust and sweat, and even some blood from Loki's dagger. He brushed his hand over the already closing wound and huffed a smile. It was exactly where Loki had stabbed him all those years ago, when he had tried to take over the Earth. Now who was sentimental, brother?

Behind him, the bathroom door opened. Thor turned.

Loki emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, fastening his pale green robe with a sash around his waist. He had wrapped a towel into a turban around his head, though a couple of wet curls had escaped it and dribbled water on Loki's shoulder, leaving dark marks on the silk.

As always when Thor saw his brother, warmth spilled inside him, and he smiled. “I'm home, baby.”

Loki walked up to him, fixing his slipping turban. “Took you long enough.”

Thor rolled his neck with a groan, unfastening his cape. “Fury was there. Had a lot of questions.”

Loki clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “That man ought to learn to mind his business.”

Thor hummed in agreement and dropped his breastplate. “By the way, we should talk to Rabbit. He might have some sort of device to uncover you.”

“I was thinking the same. We could have fun with him on our side,” Loki said, though he sounded distracted, eyes on Thor's hands as he pulled his shirt up. Thor smirked inwardly and pretended that the shirt had stuck at his head; he knew how much Loki appreciated his physique.

And true enough, when Thor finally tossed the stained garment on the floor, Loki's eyes were trained on his chest. From there they slipped lower, to the wound he himself had inflicted earlier that day. It had already begun healing, but Loki covered it with his palm anyway, and but a moment later Thor felt the warmth of his healing magic spreading over his side.

He covered Loki's hand with his own. “You aren't hurt?”

“Merely bruises. I healed them in the bath.” Loki quirked his brow at him. “Though you certainly seemed to enjoy tackling me into the ground today.”

Thor laughed, unabashed. “What can I say? I know you like it underneath me.” He stroked the back of Loki's healing hand. “You were stunning out there, brother.”

Loki's eyes sparkled when he met Thor's gaze. “How did you find my new trick?”

Thor circled his free arm around Loki's delightfully narrow waist, pulling him in. Pride for his brother's skills and joy for his evident mirth bubbled inside him. “Never saw it coming.”

“You never do, brother mine,” Loki laughed, but quickly sobered and pursed his lips at Thor with an adorable frown. He resembled so much his younger self like that that Thor had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Loki wouldn't appreciate it.

Loki raised his hand from Thor's wound to rest on his chest, fingers drumming thoughtfully above Thor's heart. “So – _tells_?”

Thor grinned then, openly triumphant. “I've had time to practise over the decades. And no, I'm not telling you what they are. But two little things give the real you out.”

“If you won't tell them, I'll assume that you just made it up in a silly attempt to confuse me.”

Thor's grin widened. “Then I suppose you'll have to keep guessing. Do I speak the truth, do I not...”

Loki followed obediently when Thor pulled him closer still. He tilted his head to bring his lips close to Thor's. “You might reconsider not telling by the end of the night,” he purred, warm breath ghosting over Thor's lips.

Thor tightened his hold on Loki's waist. He was already half-hard, and Loki's answering erection pressed sweetly against his. “Yeah?” he murmured against Loki's lips, going for a kiss, but meeting only air as Loki teased him, pulling away ever so slightly, only to nip at Thor's jaw.

“Yeah,” Loki breathed, rolling his hips lightly against Thor's. He didn't seem to mind at all the dirt and the sweat, but then again, he never did when he got in the mood. “The way you held me down on that balcony, Norns...”

“I would have ravished you then and there, had you not fled,” Thor growled, arousal flaring in his loins at Loki's sensual motions. He squeezed Loki tighter against himself.

Loki gasped, grinding his front to Thor's with growing urgency. “That would have rather… diverged from the script, don't you think?”

“I thought you liked changing the rules on the fly.” Thor bit at Loki's neck, moaning into his skin with Loki's grinding. “Giving the crowd something new to gape at. Wouldn't want them to get bored, would you?”

Loki panted against his lips. “No, can't have-- ah, that. I, I have a reputation to uphold.”

Thor grabbed the firm globes of Loki’s arse in both palms and pushed his thigh between his brother's legs; the sheer robe he was wearing would do nothing to ease the burn of Thor's leather trousers against his tender skin. “Step up the game next time?” he panted out.

Loki's free hand grasped Thor's belt as he rode his thigh. His eyes were wild and bright when he met Thor's gaze. “You can try. I will struggle.”

Thor took his lips then, biting at them and sucking hard right after. “Good. That will make it all the more satisfying.”

Loki licked at the sweat on Thor's bare collarbones, half-lidded eyes hazy with lust and the fantasy. “Yes, yes. I will struggle, and, oh, people will-- people will see you for what you truly are, _fuck, Thor._ ”

Thor licked into his brother's ear. “And what am I, Loki?”

“A beast.” Loki wiggled his hand between them and grabbed Thor's cock through the leather. “You're nothing but a, a beast in a hero's cape--”

“Let them see,” Thor growled, lost in Loki's voice and his touch. “Let them see that only I can tame you, that it takes the Mighty Thor's hammer to turn you into a moaning bitch -”

Loki burst in laughter, ceasing his frantic rutting and dropping his forehead on Thor's shoulder. “Not-- not if you call it that, you ridiculous lump of muscle!”

Thor's chest rumbled with mirth. “You like it well enough at home.”

Loki smacked his arm. “I like your cock, not the euphemism. You should focus more on actions than words, brother, lest you tame me by making me roll in laughter.”

“I'll keep it in mind.” Thor gently detached Loki from him. “Now, tough, I fear I need to wash.”

Loki's palm on his chest stopped him.

“Where’s the hurry?”

Thor swallowed a chuckle; he well knew how his brother appreciated his battle look. Still, he endeavoured to tease him a little.

“Wouldn't you have me bathed first? I'm filthy – I would loathe to ruin your fine silks.” A lie, both in that Thor greatly enjoyed ruining Loki's clothing while Loki was still in it, and in that Loki’s robe was already stained by Thor's sweat, anyway.

Loki's eyes burned green fire as he regarded Thor. “Mm, no. I quite liked your idea for our next battle scene. We should practise. We can always bathe afterwards.”

“We? You just had one. I want to have the tub for myself, too.”

“You should have thought about that before you smeared your filth all over me,” Loki retorted cheekily. He leant in, lips grazing Thor’s smile, wicked eyes full of promise. “Besides, I think I'll be needing a bath anyway once we are done, don’t you?”

Thor grinned and grabbed Loki's waist again. “You convinced me. Where were we..?”

 

*

 


End file.
